MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV) - FREDERICK MARRYAT (books to read this summer txt) 📗

It Is Within The

Square, But Unconnected. The West Door Is Decorated with The Most

Elaborated carvings Of Flowers, Images Of Angels, And Figures Of The

Apostles; The Interior Is Plain. To The Right Is A Handsome Tower And

Belfry, And Above The Altar A Large Stone Cupola. Behind The Church Is A

Long Range Of Rooms For The Missionaries, With A Corridor Of Nine Arches

In Front. The Texan Troops Were Long Quartered here, And, Although

Always Intoxicated, Strange To Say, The Stone Carvings Have Not Been

Injured. The Church Has Since Been Repaired, And Divine Service Is

Performed in it.

 

 

 

About Half A Mile Further Down Is The Mission Of San Juan. The Church

Forms Part Of The Sides Of The Square, And On The North-West Corner Of

The Square Are The Remains Of A Small Stone Tower. This Mission, As

Well As That Of La Espada, Is Inhabited. The Church Of La Espada,

However, Is In ruins, And But Two Sides Of The Square, Consisting Of

Mere Walls, Remain Entire; The Others Have Been Wantonly Destroyed.

 

 

 

The Church At San Antonio De Bejar Was Built In the Year 1717; And

Although It Has Suffered much From The Many Sieges Which The City Has

Undergone, It Is Still Used as A Place Of Public Worship. At The Time

That San Antonio Was Attacked and Taken By Colonel Cooke, In 1835,

Several Cannon-Shots Struck The Dome, And A Great Deal Of Damage Was

Done; In fact, All The Houses In the Principal Square Of The Town Are

Marked more Or Less By Shot. One Among Them Has Suffered very Much; It

Is The "Government-House," Celebrated for One Of The Most Cowardly

Massacres Ever Committed by A Nation Of Barbarians, And Which I Shall

Here Relate.

 

 

 

After Some Skirmishes Betwixt The Comanches And The Texans, In which The

Former Had Always Had The Advantage, The Latter Thought It Advisable To

Propose A Treaty Of Alliance. Messengers, With Flags Of Truce, Were

Despatched among The Indians, Inviting all Their Chiefs To A Council At

San Antonio, Where The Representatives Of Texas Would Meet Them And Make

Their Proposals For An Eternal Peace. Incapable Of Treachery Themselves,

The Brave Comanches Never Suspected it In others; At The Time Agreed

Upon, Forty Of Their Principal Chiefs Arrived in the Town, And, Leaving

Their Horses In the Square, Proceeded to The "Government-House." They

Were All Unarmed, Their Long Flowing Hair Covered with A Profusion Of

Gold And Silver Ornaments; Their Dresses Very Rich And Their Blankets Of

That Fine Mexican Texture Which Commands In the Market From Fifty To One

Hundred and Fifty Dollars A-Piece. Their Horses Were Noble Animals, And

Of Great Value, Their Saddles Richly Embossed with Gold And Silver. The

Display Of So Much Wealth Excited all The Worst Propensities Of The

Texan Populace, Who Resolved at Any Price To Obtain Possession Of So

Splendid A Booty. While The Chiefs Were Making Their Speeches Of Peace

And Amity, A Few Hundred texan Blackguards Rushed into The Room With

Their Pistols And Knives, And Began Their Work Of Murder. All The

Indians Fell, Except One, Who Succeeded in making His Escape; But Though

The Comanches Were Quite Unarmed, They Sold Their Lives Dearly, For

Eighteen Texans Were Found Among The Slain.

 

 

 

I Will Close This Chapter With A Few Remarks Upon The Now Acknowledged

Republic Of Texas.

 

 

 

The Dismemberment Of Texas From Mexico Was Effected by The Reports Of

Extensive Gold-Mines, Diamonds, &C., Which Were To Be Found There, And

Which Raised the Cupidity Of The Eastern Speculators And Land-Jobbers Of

The United states. But In all Probability This Appropriation Would Never

Have Taken Place If It Had Not Been That The Southern States Of America

Had, With Very Different Views, Given Every Encouragement To

The Attempt.

 

 

 

The People Of Louisiana And The Southern States Knew The Exact Value Of

The Country, And Laughed at The Idea Of Its Immense Treasures. They

Acted from A Deep, Although It Eventually Has Turned out To Have Been A

False, Policy. They Considered that Texas, Once Wrested from Mexico,

Would Be Admitted into The Union, Subdivided into Two Or Three States,

Every One Of Which Would, Of Course, Be Slave-Holding States, And Send

Their Members To Congress. This Would Have Given The Slave-Holding

States The Preponderance In the Union.

 

 

 

Events Have Turned out Differently, And The Planters Of The South Now

Deplore Their Untoward Policy And Want Of Foresight, As They Have

Assisted in raising Up A Formidable Rival In the Production Of Their

Staple Commodity, Injurious To Them Even In time Of Peace, And In case

Of A War With England, Still More Inimical To Their Interests.

 

 

 

It Is Much To Be Lamented that Texas Had Not Been Populated by A More

Deserving Class Of Individuals; It Might Have Been, Even By This Time, A

Country Of Importance And Wealth; But It Has From The Commencement Been

The Resort Of Every Vagabond And Scoundrel Who Could Not Venture To

Remain In the United states; And, Unfortunately, The Texan Character Was

Fixed and Established, As A Community Wholly Destitute Of Principle Or

Probity, Before The Emigration Of More Respectable Settlers Had

Commenced. The Consequences Have Been Most Disastrous, And It Is To Be

Questioned whether Some Of Them Will Ever Be Removed.

 

 

 

At The Period Of Its Independence, The Population Of Texas Was Estimated

At About Forty Thousand. Now, If You Are To Credit The Texan Government,

It Has Increased to About Seventy-Five Thousand. Such, However, Is Not

The Fact, Although It, Of Course, Suits The Members Of The Republic To

Make The Assertion. Instead Of The Increase Stated by Them, The

Population Of Texas Has Decreased considerably, And Is Not Now Equal To

What It Was At The Independence.

 

 

 

This May Appear Strange, After So Many Thousands From The United states,

England, And Germany Have Been Induced to Emigrate There; But The Fact

Is, That, After Having arrived in the Country, And Having Discovered

That They Were At The Mercy Of Bands Of Miscreants, Who Are Capable Of

Any Dark Deed, They Have Quitted the Country To Save The Remainder Of

Their Substance, And Have Passed over Into Mexico, The Southern United

States, Or Anywhere Else Where They Had Some Chance Of Security For Life

And Property.

 

 

 

Among The Population Of Texas Were Counted many Thousand Mexicans, Who

Remained in the Country, Trusting That Order And Law Would Soon Be

Established: But, Disappointed in their Expectations, They Have

Emigrated to Mexico. Eight Thousand Have Quitted san Antonio De Bejar,

And The Void Has Been Filled up By Six Or Seven Hundred drunkards,

Thieves, And Murderers. The Same Desertion Has Taken Place In goliad,

Velasco, Nacogdoches, And Other Towns, Which Were Formerly Occupied by

Mexican Families.

 

 

 

It May Give The Reader Some Idea Of The Insecurity Of Life And Property

In Texas, When I State, That There Are Numerous Bands Of Robbers

Continually On The Look-Out, To Rifle And Murder The Travellers, And

That It Is Of Frequent Occurrence For A House To Be Attacked and

Plundered, The Women Violated, And Every Individual Afterwards Murdered

By These Miscreants, Who, To Escape Detection, Dress And Paint

Themselves As Indians. Of Course, What I Have Now Stated, Although Well

Known To Be A Fact, Is Not Likely To Be Mentioned in the Texan

Newspapers.

 

 

 

Another Serious Evil Arising From This Lawless State Of The Country Is,

That The Indians, Who Were Well Inclined towards The Texans, As Being,

With Them, Mutual Enemies Of The Mexicans, Are Now Hostile, To

Extermination. I Have Mentioned the Murder Of The Comanche Chiefs, In

The Government-House Of San Antonio, Which, In itself, Was Sufficient.

But Such Has Been The Disgraceful Conduct Of The Texans Towards The

Indians, That The White Man Is Now Considered by Them As A Term Of

Reproach; They Are Spoken Of By The Indians As "Dogs," And Are Generally

Hung Or Shot Whenever They Are Fallen In with. Centuries Cannot Repair

This Serious Evil, And The Texans Have Made Bitter And Implacable Foes

Of Those Who Would Have Been Their Friends. No Distinction Is Made

Between An American And A Texan, And The Texans Have Raised up A Foe To

The United states, Which May Hereafter Prove Not A Little Troublesome.

 

 

 

In Another Point, Texas Has Been Seriously Injured by This Total Want Of

Probity And Principle. Had Western Texas Been Settled by People Of

Common Honesty, It Would, From Its Topographical Situation, Have Soon

Become A Very Important Country, As All The Mercantile Transactions With

The North Central Provinces Of Mexico Would Have Been Secured to It.

 

 

 

From The Presidio Del Rio Grande There Is An Excellent Road To San

Antonio De Bejar; To The South Of San Antonio Lies Chihuahua; So That

The Nearest And Most Accessible Route Overland, From The United states

To The Centre Of Mexico, Is Through San Antonio. And This Overland Route

Can Be Shortened by Discharging Vessels At Linville, Or La Bacca, And

From Thence Taking The Goods To San Antonio, A Distance Of About One

Hundred and Forty Miles. The Western Boundary Line Of Texas, At The Time

Of The Declaration Of Its Independence, Was Understood To Be The River

Nueces; And If So, Nothing Could Have Prevented san Antonio From

Becoming an Inland Depot Of Much Commercial Importance.

 

 

 

Numerous Parties Of Mexican Traders Have Long Been Accustomed to Come To

San Antonio From The Rio Grande. They Were Generally Very Honest In

Their Payments, And Showed a Very Friendly Spirit. Had This Trade Been

Protected, As It Should Have Been, By Putting Down The Bands Of Robbers,

Who Rendered the Roads Unsafe By Their Depredations And Atrocities, It

Would Have Become Of More Value Than Any Trade To Santa Fe. Recognized

Or Unrecognized, Texas Could Have Carried on The Trade; Merchants Would

Have Settled in the West, To Participate In it; Emigrants Would Have

Collected in the District, Where The Soil Is Rich And The Climate

Healthy. It Is True, The Trade Would Have Been Illicit; But Such Is Ever

The Inevitable Consequence Of A High And Ill-Regulated tariff. It Would,

Nevertheless, Have Been Very Profitable, And Would Have Conciliated the

Population Of Rio Grande Towards The Texans, And In all Probability Have

Forced upon The Mexican Government The Establishment Of Friendly

Relations Between The Two Countries.

 

 

 

But This Trade Has Been Totally Destroyed; The Indians Now Seize And

Plunder Every Caravan, Either To Or From San Antonio; The Texan Robbers

Lie In wait For Them, If They Escape The Indians; And Should The Mexican

Trader Escape With His Goods From Both, He Has Still To Undergo The

Chance Of Being Swindled by The _Soi-Disant_ Texan Merchant.

 

 

 

If Ever There Was A Proof, From The Results Of Pursuing an Opposite

Course, That Honesty Is The Best Policy, It Is To Be Found In the

Present State Of Texas.

Chapter XX

Happily For Me And My Two Companions, There Still Remained two Or Three

Gentlemen In san Antonio. These Were Colonel Seguin And Messrs. Novarro,

Senior And Junior, Mexican Gentlemen, Who, Liberal In their Ideas And

Frank In their Natures, Had Been Induced by The False Representations Of

The Texans Not To Quit The Country After Its Independence Of Mexico;

And, As They Were Men Of High Rank, By So Doing They Not Only Forfeited

Their Rights As Citizens Of Mexico, But Also Incurred the Hatred and

Animosity Of That Government.

 

 

 

Now That They Had Discovered their Error, It Was Too Late To Repair It;

Moreover, Pride And, Perhaps, A Mistaken Sense Of Honour, Would Not

Permit Them To Remove To Mexico, Although Severed from All Those Ties

Which Render Life Sweet And Agreeable. Their Own Sorrows Did Not,

However, Interfere With Their Unbounded hospitality: In their House We

Found A Home. We Formed no Intimacy With The Texans; Indeed, We Had No

Contact Whatever With Them, Except That One Day Roche Thrashed two Of

Them With His Shillalah For Ill-Treating an Old Indian.

 

 

 

Inquiries Were Made By Colonel Seguin As To Where The Comanches Might Be

Found, And We Soon Ascertained that They Were In their Great Village, At

The Foot Of The Green Mountain, Upon The Southern Fork Of The

Head-Waters Of The Rio Roxo.

 

 

 

We Made Immediate Preparations For Departure, And As We Proposed